Welcome to the Grief Series, a collection of conversations about the grief woven throughout our lives with some extraordinary women bringing their raw, vulnerable stories to the mic. I hope you see yourself somewhere in these stories.

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This episode is for the woman who fought hard to build something she loved, then had a baby && came back to her desk crying because she hated all of it. My guest, Sophia Rose, is a marketing coach, strategist, and IVF mom based in London. She had a business she was deeply proud of, a husband who showed up, and a clear picture of the kind of mom she wanted to be. None of that prepared her for sitting at her to-do list a few months postpartum && feeling like she was wearing someone else's shirt. She brought all of that here, one year out, still in it, && more honest than most people ever let themselves be.

TOPICS WE EXPLORE

• The identity crisis nobody warned her about (even though her friend tried)
• Coming back to a business she'd built from the ground up && feeling nothing
• The fog of postpartum grief
• Saying goodbye to breastfeeding without knowing it was the last time
• The duality of motherhood: joy && grief in the same breath
• How navigating loss reshapes your tolerance for things that don't matter
• The superpowers that come on the other side of falling apart
• What she wants women to know before they have their first baby

THE POINT

You don't graduate from the grief of motherhood. You just get better at walking through the doors it keeps opening. && if you can stop fighting it, it will change you in the best possible way.

ABOUT SOPHIA

Sophia Rose is a marketing coach, strategist, host of Marketing Unfiltered, and co-host of Relatable with the Roses alongside her husband Bradley, a Peloton cycling instructor. She helps business owners cut through the noise and market in a way that actually works, and she does it from London with her IVF son Grayson.

Find her podcast Marketing Unfiltered && Relatable with the Roses.

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

• Marketing Unfiltered (Sophia's marketing podcast)
• Relatable with the Roses (Sophia's podcast with husband Bradley Rose)
• Ash on Marketing Unfiltered - Breaking the Cycle of High-Functioning Burnout
• Shamelessly Ambitious Soundcheck (free curated episode playlists)
• Work with Ash

Are you loving it? Send Ash a text!

MORE ABOUT ASH

I'm Ash McDonald — the Entrepreneur's Therapist. Trained therapist, seasoned entrepreneur, mom of 3, && the person you call when your business coach doesn't get your brain && your therapist doesn't get your business.

I built the thing I couldn't find anywhere else: whole-picture support that holds your strategy && your humanity in the same conversation at the same time.

LINKS:

• Work with me 1:1 → Deep Cuts
• Fast-track your results → The Green Room
• Solve one thing right now → Studio Sessions
• Burnout-proof your life && business → Mixtape
• Get your free podcast playlists → The Soundcheck
• Weekly emails that tell you what your business coach won't && your therapist can't → Subscribe to The Beat
• Website: ashmcdonaldmentoring.com